List of Adolf Hitler's directives
The following is a list of the Führer directives and Führer Orders issued by Adolf Hitler over the course of World War II:
The directives
| Directive No | Date issued | Subject | Notes | Full text |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 1, 1939 | Plan of Attack on Poland | Invasion of Poland | [1] |
| 2 | September 3, 1939 | Hostilities in the West | ||
| 3 | September 9, 1939 | Transfer of Forces from Poland to the West | ||
| 4 | September 25, 1939 | Finishing the War in Poland | ||
| 5 | September 30, 1939 | Partition of Poland, removing restrictions on naval warfare. | ||
| 6 | October 9, 1939 | Plans for Offensive in the West | ||
| 7 | October 18, 1939 | Preparations for Attack in the West | ||
| 8 | November 20, 1939 | Further Preparations for Attack in the West | ||
| 9 | November 29, 1939 | Instructions for Warfare against the Economy of the Enemy | ||
| 10 | January 19–February 18, 1940 | Concentration of Forces for "Case Yellow" (Fall Gelb) | Manstein Plan | |
| 10a | March 1, 1940 | Case "Weser Exercise" against Denmark and Norway | Operation Weserübung | |
| 11 | May 14, 1940 | The Offensive in the West | ||
| 12 | May 18, 1940 | Prosecution of the Attack in the West | ||
| 13 | May 24, 1940 | Next Object in the West | ||
| 14 | June 8, 1940 | Continuation of the Offensive in France | ||
| 15 | June 14, 1940 | Advance on the Loire | ||
| 16 | July 16, 1940 | Preparations for Operation Sea Lion | Specifies a broad front landing on south coast of England from Ramsgate to Isle of Wight. | [2] |
| 17 | August 1, 1940 | Battle of Britain | [3] | |
| 18 | November 12, 1940 | Seizure of Gibraltar | Operation Felix | Full text |
| 19 | December 10, 1940 | German occupation of Vichy France | Operation Attila | Full text |
| 20 | December 13, 1940 | German invasion of Greece | Operation Marita | [4] |
| 21 | December 18, 1940 | Invasion of the Soviet Union | Operation Barbarossa | Full text; Alt. Full text |
| 22 | January 11, 1941 | German Support for Battles in the Mediterranean Area | Operation Sonnenblume | |
| 23 | February 6, 1941 | Directions for Operations against the English War Economy | ||
| 24 | March 5, 1941 | Co-operation with Japan | ||
| 25 | March 27, 1941 | Plan of Attack on Yugoslavia | (see Führer Directive No. 25) | Original text |
| 26 | April 3, 1941 | Co-operation with our Allies in the Balkans | ||
| 27 | April 4, 1941 | Plan of Attack on Greece | ||
| 28 | April 25, 1941 | Invasion of Crete | Operation Mercury | [5] |
| 29 | May 17, 1941 | Proposed Military Government of Greece | [6] | |
| 30 | May 23, 1941 | Support of anti-British forces in Iraq | (see Führer Directive No. 30) | |
| 31 | June 9, 1941 | German Military Organisation in the Balkans | Battle of Crete | |
| 32 | June 11, 1941 | Plans following defeat of the Soviet Union | Operation Orient | Full text |
| 32a | July 14, 1941 | Use of resources following defeat of the Soviet Union | Full text | |
| 33 | July 19, 1941 | Continuation of the War in the East | Two Panzer Groups were removed from Army Group Centre, depriving it of the armour which it would otherwise have used to attack Moscow.[7] | |
| 33a | July 23, 1941 | Supplement to 33 | ||
| 34 | July 30, 1941 | Strengthening Soviet resistance | ||
| 34a | August 12, 1941 | Supplement to 34 | ||
| 35 | September 6, 1941 | Closing the encirclement of Leningrad, destruction of the Southwestern Front | Battle of Moscow, Siege of Leningrad | |
| 36 | September 22, 1941 | Instructions for Winter operations in the Arctic | Instructions to the Army High Command, Norway, the navy and the air force for winter operations in and around northern Norway, Finland, and the Soviet Arctic regions. | |
| 37 | October 10, 1941 | Reorganizing forces in the Arctic | ||
| 38 | December 2, 1941 | Transfer of air units to the Mediterranean | ||
| 39 | December 8, 1941 | Abandoning the Offensive on the Eastern Front | Cancels Operation Barbarossa in reaction to the massive Soviet winter counter-offensive | |
| 40 | March 23, 1942 | Competence of Commanders in Coastal Areas | Command Organization of the Coasts Atlantic Wall;[8] | [9] |
| 41 | April 5, 1942 | Summer Campaign in the Soviet Union | Operation Blue | [10] |
| 42 | May 29, 1942 | Instructions for operations against unoccupied France and the Iberian Peninsula | Operation Attila replaced by Case Anton; Operation Isabella cancelled; | [11] |
| 43 | July 11, 1942 | Continuation of Operations from the Crimea | ||
| 44 | July 21, 1942 | Operations in Northern Finland | ||
| 45 | July 23, 1942 | Continuation of Operation Brunswick | ||
| 46 | August 18, 1942 | Instructions for Intensified Action Against Banditry in the East | Attempting to suppress Soviet resistance movements | |
| 47 | December 28, 1942 | Outlines the Chain of command for the South Eastern Mediterranean, and defensive strategies for a possible Allied attack on the Balkans and surrounding islands. | ||
| 48 | July 26, 1943 | Command and defence measures in the southeast | ||
| 49 | July, 1943 | Believed to be a contingency plan to seize Italian positions in the event of their withdrawal from the war. | Did not survive? | |
| 50 | September 28, 1943 | Concerning the preparations for the withdrawal of 20th Mountain Army to Northern Finland and Northern Norway | ||
| 51 | November 3, 1943 | Preparations for a two-front war | [12] | |
| 52 | January 28, 1944 | Battle of Rome | Battle of Monte Cassino | |
| 53 | March 8, 1944 | Establishment of fortified areas and strong points | ||
| 54 | April 2, 1944 | Measures to halt the Soviet advance in the East | ||
| 55 | May 16, 1944 | Utilization of long range bombardment against England | V-1 and later V-2 missile strikes | |
| 56 | July 12, 1944 | Orders for the protection of shipping | ||
| 57 | July 13, 1944 | Protocols for how authorities should operate in the event of an invasion of the Reich | ||
| 58 | July 19, 1944 | Preparations for the defense of the Reich | ||
| 59 | July 23, 1944 | Reorganization of Army Group North's command structure | ||
| 60 | July 26, 1944 | Defensive measures for the Italian Alps | ||
| 61 | August 24, 1944 | Establishment of defensive positions in the West | ||
| 62 | August 29, 1944 | Establishment of defenses along the German northern coastal regions | ||
| 63 | September 1, 1944 | Order for the West Wall to be on the defensive | ||
| 64 | September 3, 1944 | Orders for Commander-in-Chief West | ||
| 64a | September 7, 1944 | Conferring powers to Commander-in-Chief West | ||
| 64b | September 9, 1944 | Supplement to 64a | ||
| 65 | September 12, 1944 | Defensive measures for the South-East | ||
| 66 | September 19–22, 1944 | Second decree on command authority within the Reich in the event of invasion | ||
| 67 | November 28, 1944 | Exercise of command for isolated units | ||
| 68 | January 21, 1945 | Reestablishing the command supremacy of the Fuhrer | ||
| 69 | January 28, 1945 | Employment of the Volkssturm | ||
| 70 | February 5, 1945 | Evacuation of refugees from the East to Denmark | ||
| 71 | March 20, 1945 | Orders for a scorched earth campaign within the Reich | "Decree Concerning Demolitions in the Reich Territory" also known as Nero Decree | |
| 72 | April 7, 1945 | Reorganization of command in the West | ||
| 73 | April 15, 1945 | Organization of command in the event Northern and Southern Germany are separated | ||
| 74 | April 15, 1945 | Order of the day to soldiers on the Eastern Front | [13] |
References
- ^ "Directive No. 1 for the Conduct of the War". Alternate Wars. 31 August 1939. Archived from the original on Apr 26, 2022.
- ^ "Directive No. 16 On preparations for a landing operation against England". Alternate Wars. 16 July 1940. Archived from the original on Apr 26, 2022.
- ^ "Directive No. 17 For the conduct of air and sea warfare against England". Alternate Wars. 1 August 1940. Archived from the original on Apr 26, 2022.
- ^ "Führer Directive x". Alternate Wars.
- ^ "Directive No. 28: 'Undertaking Mercury [Merkur]'". Alternate Wars. 25 April 1941. Archived from the original on Apr 26, 2022.
- ^ "Führer Directive x". Alternate Wars.
- ^ Peter Antill; Peter Dennis (2007). Stalingrad 1942. Osprey Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 978-1-84603-028-4.
- ^ Zaloga, Steven J. (2007). The Atlantic Wall. Osprey Publishing. p. 9. ISBN 9781846031298.
- ^ "Führer-Directive 40". Alternate Wars.
- ^ "Führer Directive 41". WW2DB.
- ^ "Führer Directive 42". Alternate Wars.
- ^ "Führer-Directive 51".
- ^ Full text
- "Adolf Hitler and World War II: Operational Orders". 3 August 2009. Retrieved 2 Nov 2009.